Plankton & Prometheanism Carbon Sequestration and Ocean Policy Tess Brandon, Joe Kubik & Andrew McCloskey
Overview • Carbon Sequestration – Overview – Ocean Fertilization • Ocean Policy – Fisheries – UNCLOS • The Ocean as a global resource
Carbon Sequestration •Carbon dioxide Capture and storage (CCS) is a way of separating CO2 from industrial and energy processes and transporting it for long- term storage and isolation from the atmosphere. •Two possibilities exist - terrestrial/geological, and oceanic From IPCC Special Report on Carbon Sequestration
Ocean Fertilization http://www.mbari.org/expeditions/SOFeX2002/history&purpose.htm • Iron-rich Dust � Phytoplankton � Carbon Sink • Lots of uncertainty: ecosystem damage, nutrient redistribution, creation of anoxic zones, ocean acidity
Disconnect between Science and Government •The Department of Energy •NSF and scientific has created an entire community want to study department called the ocean fertilization for its Carbon Sequestration Core inherent value to Program for research on understanding the physical vs. carbon sequestration and ecological processes and paleoclimate in the •Have introduced ocean ocean, not because of its fertilization as a new and potential as a solution to exciting technical fix for global warming. atmospheric carbon dioxide
Overview • Carbon Sequestration – Overview – Ocean Fertilization • Ocean Policy – Fisheries – UNCLOS • The Ocean as a global resource
International Ocean Policy: The Early Years 1609 - Mare Liberum “The Freedom of the Seas” Doctrine • Open-pool resource • Inexhaustible resources • Colonial Legacy 1839 - Three Mile Territorial Seas est. between France & England 1945 – President Harry Truman claims jurisdiction over the US continental shelf and coastal fisheries http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Grotius Hugo Grotius
Fisheries and their Impact Setting the Stage for UNCLOS CONCEPTS • “Common Heritage of Mankind” • Hardin’s “Tragedy of the Commons: open access & overcapitaliza-tion • Transition of fish (as a resource) from a nonrival to rival commodity EVENTS • 3 Mile territorial zone becomes inadequate (Treaty of Washington) • 1958 “Cod War” culmination of many http://img78.photobucket.com/ factors
UNCLOS ( United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea ) “The problems of ocean space are closely interrelated and must be considered as a whole” - preamble of the Law of the Sea CONCEPTS • Treats ocean governance and the ocean itself as a connected whole • Places restrictions upon the Mare Liberum doctrine • Emphasizes precaution DETAILS • Divides the seas up in to 4 main jurisdictional zones • Most widely agreed on international law (ratified by 139 UN nations) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Convention_on_the_ Law_of_the_Sea • United States has refused to rafity The Primary Jurisdictions
Implications – What does all this mean for ocean fertilization research? • Ocean fertilization would most likely occur in international waters, where Mare Liberum still applies. • Would fall under the North-East Pacific, or Pacific jurisdictional regions under UNEP’s Regional Seas Programme • Part XIII of UNCLOS promotes scientific research • However, Article 240, section (C): “Shall not unjustifiably interfere with other legitimate uses..” http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov Exclusive Economic Zones • What happens when (or if) ocean in the Western Pacific fertilization pasts the research phase?
Overview • Carbon Sequestration – Overview – Ocean Fertilization • Ocean Policy – Fisheries – UNCLOS • The Ocean as a global resource
Global Resource Management: A New Paradigm Increasing Connectivity • Natural Resource Management: • Horizontal Connectivity • Vertical Connectivity • Economics and Politics: • Globalization • International Law www.flickr.com
The Ocean as a Global Resource • NMFS and Fisheries Management •Ownership of the Ocean •Ecosystems-based Management • Deep-Ocean Carbon Sequestration •S.O. as the “great communicator” •Scientific Implications topex-www.jpl.nasa.gov •Political Implications Equatorial Pacific Ocean Southern Ocean
Looking Ahead: The Future of Ocean Policy • UNCLOS: first step in recognizing that the ocean is a complex, interrelated system • Steps must still be taken in abandoning Hugo Grotius’s Mare Liberum – the idea that the worlds oceans are an open-pool resource • This includes: 1. A restructuring of international waters 2. Realization that interaction among stakeholders is necessary www.afsc.noaa.gov/images/useez.jpg U.S. Exclusive Economic Zones 3. Ratification of UNCLOS by the U.S.
Looking Ahead: Ocean Fertilization How It Might Look ISSUES CONCEPTS • UNCLOS does not address the • UN pre-approves appropriate issue of ocean fertilization, or any areas type of carbon sequestration • Limited number of permits allotted involving the oceans • Semi-private carbon mitigation • International waters still function banks based on a system of under the concept of Mare Liberum “carbon credits” • Would be treated like any other • Hybrid system between that private enterprise proposed by the Kyoto Protocol and that of US wetland mitigation • Lack of regulation could lead to banks disastrous consequences
Summary & Conclusions Connections • Ocean fertilization as a Promethean solution to climate change • Future ocean policy should approximate guidelines of sustainable development • Open-pool resource � Common-pool usinfo.state.gov resource "We all believe technology offers great promise to significantly reduce • Realistic use: carbon credit market [greenhouse gas] emissions -- especially carbon capture, storage and sequestration technologies." President George W. Bush June 11, 2001
Questions? Thank you!
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